Vocalist Tommy Karevik might have joined Kamelot but progressive metallers Seventh Wonder aren't stopping. The band promises to release a new album this year and is well underway in the writing process. Their last album The Great Escape was released in 2010.

Bassist Andreas Blomqvist posted the following lengthy message: "All, this time of year I normally write a little something so I figured I would do that again this year. 2012 sure was a different year for us, somewhat in hiatus but also having a lot to deal with. Stefan has worked his way into the band incredibly well, Tommy went on a world tour with Kamelot, Johan had a baby and I think I have made a decent enough comeback after my tenure in the States and we managed to sneak in a gig in Norway and a little tour in Italy too - not to mention us having written some prog-goodies. Good to be back!

So the most important topic now is of course 'what now?'. You bet it is! Well, first let me say this: - 2013 will be an exciting year, for it *will* be a year of a new studio release from Seventh Wonder. We are well under way! We have more or less seven songs written, out of which four are very well arranged and demoed and only one that is still not properly worked through. We also have two more things in the pipeline to dive into come January and February. Our hope is to finish the demoing of the tracks this spring and then give Tommy ample time to work on the vocal arrangements following that. We will not rush that phase this time as we have before, but we hope this will make for a better product in the end. Then it is just the small matter of the recording, mixing and mastering but in all honesty we can't say anything about that yet, so we will have to get back to you on that one.

We also have a few leads on a couple of gigs for 2013 although nothing has been finalized. I will say though that the album will be the main focus this year and we want to give you something that was well worth the extended wait.

I think we are in for a real treat in terms of this new release and I really like what I am hearing which is a good thing, don't you think?! I think it will clearly be the same melodic overdose it usually is so rest assured we won't be totally switching gears here, although we do work in a slightly different manner this time but all for the best I think, with possibly the only drawback I can see would be a little slower schedule.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking by us through a couple of slower years, we hope that you give us the chance to change that and tag along as we pick up the pace and dive head first into 2013. God bless you guys out there, and as I hear the rockets firing up outside as we draw closer to midnight I think it would also be appropriate with a 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' to all of you from all of us. See you all in 2013!"

Comments

Their albums are kind of weird for me. I listen to the songs, and they SOUND like they should be filled with extremely catchy, memorable melodies... yet nothing ever really sticks out. Tommy makes a great effort to create contagious vocal melodies, yet seems to fall short. I don't know, it's hard to explain...

I really like Mercy Falls and Waiting in the Wings but didn't feel Great Escape much, so I hope this album will be an step up from the latter. I love SW's music but I think their lyrics can be improved on sometimes - but as long as the new album delivers on the vocals and instruments, I'll be happy!

I really like Mercy Falls and Waiting in the Wings but didn't feel Great Escape much, so I hope this album will be an step up from the latter. I love SW's music but I think their lyrics can be improved on sometimes - but as long as the new album delivers on the vocals and instruments, I'll be happy!

Their albums are kind of weird for me. I listen to the songs, and they SOUND like they should be filled with extremely catchy, memorable melodies... yet nothing ever really sticks out. Tommy makes a great effort to create contagious vocal melodies, yet seems to fall short. I don't know, it's hard to explain...

They're power-prog, so part of the appeal is supposed to be that they don't just give us a catchy and highly tonal melody on a silver platter like many power metal bands do, but try to create songs that are complex and multi-layered and take more thought and exploration to understand and enjoy. Not that just being upfront contagious is bad, I love power metal and even some pop music. They sound like they'd be an awesome pure power metal band, Tommy has all of the goods for that, obviously, and the rest of the band can shred, but they want their songs to be more exploratory and experimental with more depth. One problem is that listeners sometimes don't know what to look for and it can get confusing. If you listen to Dream Theater you know exactly what you're getting: prog. It's supposed to be catchy and sound good and have good flow, but you're certainly not getting a band that's striving to be as infectiously catchy as possible, it's not power metal at all. Now take Rhapsody Of Fire in their early days: pure power. Musical crack and damn good musical crack at that. They're certainly adventurous, but their style doesn't work without every bit being highly catchy. Seventh Wonder are trying to be both elements simultaneously.

Power-prog is a very tricky genre to do, because they can antagonize each other; power metal wants to be like you're expecting, contagious and face-melting, and prog taken to the extreme wants to stretch, bend and contort the mind to make it see the elusive and complex. Ideally it wants to build and...progress with a musical idea, taking it to its limits and away from the mundane and simple. Power-prog is probably my favorite genre when done well and the two are integrated and harmonious. I see SW honing their craft throughout the years; Waiting In The Wings is a good attempt but I'd say that it mostly falls short of the goal and there is a lot of noodling that doesn't really go anywhere and holds Tommy back, it's not truly excellent prog playing and it doesn't really deliver in the catchiness department save for a few parts. Solid B- album. Mercy Falls is much better and has some incredible musical ideas and hooks. They employ a method of delaying gratification for the greater pleasure and it's more effective that time, they'll experiment and explore and it can almost sound like meandering musically, and then you get the big powerful vocal hook and you get your emotional release. And it really depends on the personality type whether or not it was an effective tease, some people are less receptive to that, but far less so if they don't come expecting it in the first place. Expectations matter a lot. If you expect to see a comedy and it's a drama, then you're going to appreciate the drama less because you expect everything to be funny.

Sometimes I will agree that they just flat-out haven't mastered that ambitious songwriting technique and that ambition hurts the songs in some parts, usually in a very minor way for me, but it happens. Like the chorus of Break The Silence. I love that song and I like the chorus, but I feel like they dig themselves into a hole in an attempt to tease the listener. It has a powerful opening (Join me...) and then they tease and meander (yin and yang...) and then you have the resolution with the epic multi-layered harmony (the fort for the fire) but it just doesn't feel like that transition between the ultra-catchy parts is justified by the resolution. Either the resolution could have been better or the interlude could have been less of a tease compared with the powerful opening. What holds it together is Tommy's amazing voice, it's a bit of a blunder of songwriting in my view. There's a trouble with prog obscurantism, it's very easy to say that someone who didn't really like a song or part of one just didn't get it, when it was a blunder on the part of the songwriter. I think that it was a blunder and they could have made the chorus better. I saw it all over Waiting In The Wings and a lot of the time their guitar transitions are a bit ugly and clash with other parts. I too feel like they could do with more power and somewhat less prog with a better use of non-melodic transitions, and that's what they did on The Great Escape. Yet it didn't have as many great musical ideas as Mercy Falls, so people wanting more prog and less power-pop and most people in general were a bit let down by it.

This all means that the new album will be interesting! Will they improve in the ways I want while satisfying prog aficionados and writing great memorable songs all while riding a unicycle and juggling flaming clubs?! Let's hope so, or it's off to the metal mines for them. Well no, but if they want to be superstars then that's what they'll do. I don't think they can go back now and change their style to something less ambitious, and I wouldn't want them to, because it's unique and awesome already, they just need to take it to the next level like any other band needs to. Though with some bands I never really know where they could go, and with SW it's obvious.

They're power-prog, so part of the appeal is supposed to be that they don't just give us a catchy and highly tonal melody on a silver platter like many power metal bands do, but try to create songs that are complex and multi-layered and take more thought and exploration to understand and enjoy...

Nice review there, and I agree with you on the most part. Mainly I'm just happy that Tommy didn't bail on SW and they're still making albums. I like Seventh Wonder a lot more than Kamelot.

They're power-prog, so part of the appeal is supposed to be that they don't just give us a catchy and highly tonal melody on a silver platter like many power metal bands do, but try to create songs that are complex and multi-layered and take more thought and exploration to understand and enjoy...

Nice review there, and I agree with you on the most part. Mainly I'm just happy that Tommy didn't bail on SW and they're still making albums. I like Seventh Wonder a lot more than Kamelot.